First customer sees immediate ROI and signs up after the weekend.

Wichita, Kansas (PRWEB) May 13, 2008 -- The eCommerce Merchants Trade Association (www.ecommercemerchants.org) recently endorsed BoldChat (www.boldchat.com), a leading live-communication provider, as an official solution provider for its worldwide membership of online retailers. The partnership arrangement provides merchants with specialized pricing for BoldChat’s robust real-time communication platform.

By offering members a feature-rich system that enables real-time chats, visitor monitoring, and pro-active invitations, all in an easy-to-install and affordable package, ECMTA is advancing their mission to provide best-in-class solutions to online merchants.

"We wanted to offer our members a comprehensive communication tool at a price that we knew would pay back quickly,” said Cresta Pillsbury, Vice President of eCommerce Merchants. “We know how important it is to connect with online customers in order to provide great service at low cost and to increase sales conversions – and that’s just what BoldChat does."

It took just a weekend for ActionGPS.com to experience the value of the eCommerce Merchants and BoldChat partnership.

“After learning about them while attending the eCommerce Merchants Spring Summit in New Orleans, we started a free trial of BoldChat on Friday morning and were so pleased with the response that we signed up for the full service Monday afternoon,” said Ali Masood, President and CEO of ActionGPS.com. “On our first full day of running live chat through BoldChat we converted similar sales through chat as we did over the phone. Setup was simple and conversion tracking along with visitor monitoring have worked wonderfully.”

About BoldChat

While BoldChat now counts many Enterprise-class companies as customers, we began by providing solutions to small and medium-size business. Boldchat's service, with guaranteed 99.9% uptime, has proven so effective thousands of websites across 70 countries now use it to boost online sales and conversion rates, reduce service and support costs, and improve agent productivity through live keyboard-based customer interaction. www.boldchat.com

About EMCTA

eCommerce Merchants is a leading trade association of small and medium sized ecommerce businesses. The organization provides best practices guidance, technology & infrastructure advice and sourcing & supplies solutions to online merchants around the world who use the internet to sell or promote products and services. www.ecommercemerchants.org (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Spring 2008 eCommerce Summit Attracts Record Attendance and Rebuilds Homes in New Orleans

April 28, 2008 New York, NY – Over 500 Internet professionals traveled to New Orleans for the 9th eCommerce Summit (http://www.ecommerce-summit.com) which concluded on April 25th. Merchants from around the world gathered for three days of learning, networking and volunteering for charity with executives from the Internet's leading companies. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

If you are already a member of PeSA ECMTA you may already know of John. I mean, he is hard to miss! I don’t say this just because he knows how to attract attention with his branded 3rdPowerOutlet clothing…

I say it because John is a active member on the PeSA ECMTA Forums and as the first first African American member of PeSA he is a trailblazer who adds real value to the community. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

“One of eBay’s mantras for the last 10 years was that they provide a level playing field for everyone,” says Jonathan Garriss, executive director of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, a group of eBay’s largest sellers. “But they now realize that just doesn’t work in today’s competitive environment. So they are doing a lot of things they never did before, like treating their biggest sellers like their customers and giving more things to their better customers. Any business does that.” (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Drive sales. Boost website traffic. Increase your online influence.

Grow your small business.

PRWeb, a recognized leader in online news distribution, is a proud sponsor of the PESA/ECMTA 2008 PESA/ECMTA Spring e-Commerce Summit!

Designed specifically to meet the online marketing and PR needs of small businesses, PRWeb (http://www.prweb.com/) is an easy and cost-effective way to promote your business and drive sales. Visit booth #30 to learn how you can:

Increase targeted, relevant traffic to your website

Harness the power of direct-to-consumer messaging

Optimize your ranking in search engines like Google

Guarantee placement of your press release on top sites like Yahoo! News

For a fraction of the cost of traditional press release services or Internet advertising, you can send your news through PRWeb (http://www.prweb.com/) to tell your story online and drive qualified, potential customers to your website.

And best of all? With PRWeb you'll be using the premier online visibility engine trusted by more than 40,000 businesses, associations and nonprofits.

Stop by booth #30 to learn more about PRWeb (http://www.prweb.com/) and enter to win a FREE press release - a $200 value. See you at the 2008 Spring e-Commerce Summit.

PESA/ECMTA 2008 Spring e-Commerce Summit

April 22nd – 24th

Morial Convention Center

New Orleans, Louisiana (READ FULL ARTICLE)

What is the single most valuable asset for an eCommerce Merchant? Your customer database.

Are you giving your customer database the attention it deserves? If not, you should drop whatever you are doing and join us for our community conference call with industry experts.

http://perfected.listbuilding.com

We are excited to have this call led by list building experts Shawn Casey and Tellman Knudson, with a focus on how eCommerce Merchants can better leverage what they are currently doing to get maximum value from their number one asset: their customer database.

Who Should Attend: All eCommerce Merchants

This call is open to everyone

When: Tuesday 4/15/08 2:00 PM PST, 5:00 EST

Where: The PESA / ECMTA phone conference system

How: (404) 920-6689 Code: 736379#

The call will be limited to the first 200 callers.

PESA + ECMTA = sellers helping sellers be successful. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

The call was interesting in that it didn’t focus on the perceived benefits or drawbacks to the Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) system, rather it focused on the challenges sellers face with DSRs and how to implement some best practices around that. It seemed to go beyond DSR 101 (one participant at the end of the call indicated that she found it one of the more worthwhile roundtable calls she had attended). (READ FULL ARTICLE)

April 9, 2008 New York, NY – The E-Commerce Merchants (www.ecommercemerchants.org), a leading trade association for e-commerce education, and Pepperjam (www.pepperjam.com), an award-winning search, affiliate and media management company, are launching a revolutionary new affiliate management service for small-medium sized retailers who sell a product or service online.

Retailers who are members of E-Commerce Merchants will receive premium services at reduced prices, designed to ramp up their affiliate program quickly and economically, including priority access to Pepperjam Network (www.pepperjammanagement.com), expert management of the affiliate program, reduced setup costs and a performance-based pricing model.

"We wanted to provide our members with the best possible affiliate solution, so we went straight to the top," comments Cresta Pillsbury, Vice President of E-Commerce Merchants. "Kris Jones and the Pepperjam team have helped merchants sell hundreds of millions of dollars in merchandise over the years. They are in a league of their own and we're honored to be working with them."

Pepperjam Network is a next-generation affiliate marketing network, developed over the course of two years by Pepperjam with the help of over one hundred independent advertisers and affiliates, to improve upon the restraints found in other networks. For instance, Pepperjam Network addresses two of the primary shortcomings found on other major networks, including poor communication tools and lack of affiliate transparency. Through this exclusive partnership with Pepperjam E-Commerce Merchants will receive advanced technical support, live chats, and non-exclusivity to foster growth. E-Commerce Merchants members are invited to join Pepperjam Network to grow their business.

To help ensure merchants succeed, JP Diaz, a Vice President of E-Commerce Merchants and affiliate expert, will oversee the process from initial setup to regular reviews of the active account. Mr. Diaz with liaise with the Pepperjam team for comprehensive account management services.

"Nothing of this scope and magnitude has been done before. We are honored and privileged to partner with the E-Commerce Merchants Trade Association to provide discounted access to Pepperjam Network, along with the special attention, tools, and service typically only reserved for a very select few merchants by other comparable affiliate networks," notes Aaron Baker, Vice-President of Sales & Marketing at Pepperjam. "We're excited about building world-class affiliate programs on Pepperjam Network for E-Commerce Merchants and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.

Another benefit of the program is reduced fees for participating merchants. Merchants will receive professional account management without a monthly fee. Similar programs charge several thousand dollars a month to actively manage an affiliate program. Instead, Pepperjam will only receive a transaction fee based on the revenue they are able to generate for the merchant. This performance based structure aligns the interests of all parties and helps ensure an ROI for the merchant.

In addition, the fee associated with setting-up a new merchant account and configuring their program is reduced for this partnership.

"Our goal is to provide every small business owner with a cost-effective and efficient way to sell more merchandise," comments David Topkins, Managing Director of E-Commerce Merchants, "and you couldn't find a better partner than Pepperjam to work with. They are THE industry experts."

Kris Jones and Pepperjam have received numerous awards and recognitions for their success in affiliate marketing from companies including CNN Money, Forbes, Inc. 500 and entrepreneur.com. Pepperjam launched Pepperjam Network in 2008 with support from numerous affiliate marketing luminaries, including Shawn Collins, Joel Comm, and David Lewis.

E-Commerce Merchants is a leading trade association of small and medium sized e-commerce businesses. The organization provides best practices guidance, technology & infrastructure advice and sourcing & supplies solutions to online merchants around the world who use the internet to sell or promote products and services. The organization works closely with the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (www.gopesa.org). (READ FULL ARTICLE)

With Deal4It's RIV (Rich Interactive Video) widget buyers are stopping in their tracks, opening their wallets and having so much fun buying from sellers who use Deal4It's RIV tool. There is nothing else like this in the market.

Please join us as we introduce the new RIV tool from Deal4It as well as share a special offer for PESA members who join us at the Ecommerce Summit in New Orleans on 4/22 - 4/24.

Who Should Attend: All eBay sellers who want to increase their traffic into buyers.

This call is open to everyone (PESA members and non-PESA members) as we share what is working and what is not working.

When: Wednesday 4/16/08 2:00 PM PST (eBay time), 5:00 EST

Where: The PESA / ECMTA phone conference system

How: (404) 920-6689 Code: 512571#

The call will be limited to the first 200 callers.

PESA + ECMTA = sellers helping sellers be successful. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

With the recent changes and the new importance of maintaining your eBay DSR (Detailed Seller Rating) scores to receive a higher placement in search as well as the PowerSeller discounts, I am pleased to announce the next call in our series will be on the very important topic of best practices used to manage and improve your DSR’s on eBay.

Please join us as we discuss tips, strategies, and best practices we have learned that are focused on achieving high DSR scores for your eBay business.

Who Should Attend: Professional eBay sellers who are interested in building a better eBay one sale at a time.

This call is open to everyone (PESA members and non-PESA members) as we share what is working and what is not working.

When: Thursday 4/10/08 2:00 PM PST (eBay time), 5:00 EST

Where: The PESA / ECMTA phone conference system

How: 1.404.920.6689 access code 479468

The call will be limited to the first 200 callers.

PESA + ECMTA = sellers helping sellers be successful. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

In fact, there are so many reasons to join us in New Orleans that we're sending out several updates over the next 3 weeks leading up to the event.

This update is basically a THANK YOU. We are tremendously grateful for the generosity of our sponsors and partners and wanted to make sure they get the recognition they deserve.

We are pleased to introduce the sponsors and speakers of the New Orleans eCommerce Summit:

1 Choice 4 Your Store

adMarketplace

Alibaba

Amazon Services

BoldChat

BuyBak

buySAFE

Click Forensics

Deal4it

Direct Horizon

eBay

endicia

Fat Jack Hosting

FutureNow

Genco Marketplace

Google

iContact

Infopia

iSoldIt

Izea

Liquidation

Merchant Advantage

Microsoft

Network Solutions

Parcel Pro

PayPal

Pepper Jam

PhiMart

Pivotal Payments

PR Easy

PRWeb

SEOMoz

ShipWire

SingleFeed

Stompernet

Talk Market

Upsellit

uShip

US Post Office

UPS

Vendio

World Wide Brands

Yahoo!

This world-class lineup will educate attendees on how to compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive online environment. The full agenda is online at:

http://www.ecmta.org/ecommerce-summit-spring-2008/agenda.cfm

The economy is making business tough for many industries, which is why it is MORE important than ever to attend this event. In fact, we are so confident that joining us in New Orleans will improve your business in 2008, that we're offering a Money-back Guarantee.

If we can't help you improve your business or reduce your expenses, we'll refund your attendance fee!

So if you're one of the many people already registered, you're in for a real treat. If you've not yet registered, it's not too late to improve your business in 2008.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Garriss Executive Director PeSA (READ FULL ARTICLE)

With a reward plan of up to a 75% rebate on your final value fees, the eBay Partner Network can generate some serious cash for eBay sellers and after a little bit of setup have it completely automated!

eBay recently announced major changes from their old affiliate program to their new eBay Partner Network program that will launch on 4/1/08. No April fools joke here. We are pleased to announce that we have William Martin-Gill from eBay’s Internet Marketing team at eBay joining PESA on this community conference call to share the new program and best practices for setting up your affiliate program and maximizing your results.

In addition we will have live examples from PESA members who have taken the PESA Rewards program to the extreme and are making additional money by doing nothing more than they already do day-to-day to run their eBay business.

The PESA Rewards program is one of many benefits of PESA membership where members can collectively promote each other’s products and get paid for driving buyers. This is a win-win-win for everyone, PESA members who receive the traffic and buyers, PESA members who drive the traffic and get a commission and eBay. You can find more details about the PESA Reward program at: http://www.gopesa.org/rewards/ PESA members can log into their account to get their affiliate links and graphics to help them automate their promotions.

Who Should Attend: Anyone with an online business wanting to make additional money doing what they already do today. You do not need to be selling on eBay to participate.

This call is open to everyone (PESA members and non-PESA members) as we share what is working and what is not working.

When: Thursday 4/3/08 2:00 PM PST (eBay time), 5:00 EST

Where: The PESA / ECMTA phone conference system

How: Dial in Telephone number 404.920.6689 Participant code 844843

The call will be limited to the first 200 callers.

PESA + ECMTA = sellers helping sellers be successful. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

We are delighted that so many prominent companies recognize the extraordinary value that eCommerce Summits represent and excited that attendees in New Orleans will be treated to a world-class learning experience.

The current agenda is online at: http://www.ecmta.org/ecommerce-summit-spring-2008/agenda.cfm

Registration is still open, which means that you can still ATTEND the New Orleans event, although space is limited. To join us for 3 days of intensive learning and sharing, from April 22-25, please register soon at: https://www.ecmta.org/ecommerce-summit-spring-2008/index.cfm

Sponsorship for our remaining events in 2008 is filling up quickly too, so if you have a product or service that you want to share with online retailers, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!

Sincerely, Cresta Pillsbury Vice President Business Development E-Commerce Merchants Cresta.Pillsbury@ecmta.org 415-342-7075 (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Do you know where you stand with eBay Best Match? Join us as we discuss the specific factors that will impact your success and the best practice strategies you should be using to get your listings to the top of the search.

- Best Match is changing the way you do business on eBay. Throw all your previously conceived notions and previously adopted business plans out the window.

-Make your voice heard. eBay will be listening and reacting to the specific things you have to say.

Stay on top of the changes that are taking place right now with eBay's new search (Finding 2.0).

Who: You

This call is open to everyone (PESA members and non-PESA members) as we share what is working and what is not working.

When: Wednesday 3/26/08 1:00 PM (eBay time) 4 PM EST

Where: PESA/ECMTA phone conference system

How: Dial in Telephone number: 1 (404) 920 - 6689 Access code: 917564

We are limiting the call to 200 Powersellers.

There is no better way to understand the impact that these changes are about to have on your business and no better way to grow your bottom line than to share a round table with 200 of eBay’s most accomplished professional sellers who are right there with you and focused on solving the problems you face in the trenches each and every day.

PESA/ECMTA is sellers helping sellers. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

“We are creating a management team of industry veterans and needed someone who understands how small business owners think,” commented David Topkins, of E-Commerce Merchants. “Brandon is a seasoned entrepreneur and knows how to connect with other business owners.”

With over 10 years experience in online retail, Brandon has first-hand experience starting and growing many online retail brands across eBay, Amazon, Overstock and multiple websites. Brandon consults for large and small online retailers interested in multi-channel retailing, affiliate marketing and merchandising strategies. Brandon is a former Board of Director of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance and a professional speaker on the subject of growing an eBay business.

“I truly enjoy any opportunity I get to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses,” said Brandon. “The opportunity to work with The E-Commerce Merchants will take this passion to a whole new level that I am very excited about.” E-Commerce Merchants is a leading trade association of small and medium sized e-commerce businesses. The organization provides best practices guidance, technology & infrastructure advice and sourcing & supplies solutions to online merchants around the world who use the internet to sell or promote products and services. The organization works closely with the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (www.gopesa.org). (READ FULL ARTICLE)

'We are delighted to welcome such a dynamic professional to our team,' said David Topkins, Managing Director of E-Commerce Merchants. 'Cresta's success at building a business network is widely known and her influence and contacts in the online community make her the perfect person to oversee the expansion of E-Commerce Merchants.' (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Mr. Murphy will be a leading a discussion entitled "The Social Media Snowball". The presentation will explore how marketers can utilize Blog Posts, Diggs, Stumbles, Tweets and other social media tools and tactics to create a virtual snowball of traffic and exposure. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Featuring Jonathan Garriss, PESA Executive Director

PESA (Professional eBay Sellers Alliance) is a not-for-profit trade association comprised of large and highly-regarded merchants, across all categories on eBay. PESA >400 members currently generate millions of eBay transactions each year and over $400M in annual eBay gross merchandise volume.

Wednesday, January 30 @ 11:00am ET /16:00 London

Telephone Replay through 2/6: 800-642-1687 (US); +1-706-645-9291(outside US); Replay Pin: 33216579 (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Tests that I have done on my keywords suggest that ending time still carries a ton of weight for now on the results. PS status may bump you up some.
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

According to the Nielsen data, the number of visitors to eBay.com dropped 10 percent from December 2006 to December 2007. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

The future could bring these and other changes to the gift-giving season. And like the Scrooge tale, experts say the forecast of holidays yet-to-come might surprise retailers and consumers. (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Our DSR ratings are absolutely static, impenetrable, impervious to influence. We are shipping faster, cheaper and communicating more at greater volume and yet we are unable to cause any change whatsoever to our DSR ratings. Except for the otherwise expected and/or sporadic unfavorable remark, it appears that buyers are leaving a string of uninterruped comments indicating good satisfaction or high satisfaction and yet our DSR ratings remain absolutely unchanged.
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

Hear it directly from the people who are responsible within eBay! Have your questions and concerns be addressed! This teleconference is open to all PeSA members.
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

Yes, auctions are killing eBay. I have seen this time and time again and still seeing it happen right now. For in-season product where supply is always available is where this gets hit the most. Let’s setup a scenario:
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

What if you could change 1 thing about eBay. Just one, very specific, defined thing about eBay to make the experience better for business what would that be?
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

Meg is one of the Valley's most celebrated and admired executives, and eBay did have an amazing run for a while. But we will not be the first to suggest that Meg may have gotten a bit more credit than she deserved for that: If ever there was a business that mostly grew itself it was eBay. And, in any case, what matters now is the future, and it seems increasingly clear that Meg is not the right person for the job... (READ FULL ARTICLE)

It's a very easy process to get started and only takes a few minutes to set up your FedEx account for their professional scrutiny. After that, there is nothing further for you to do.
Members-only: READ FULL POSTING - I'm not a member, how do I join?

There are a lot of reasons why online retailers should start seeing green in a whole new way: Conserving energy and supplying environmentally sound products and services is good for the environment and the bottom line.

Large retailers like Target, Wal-Mart and The Home Depot naturally use a lot of energy and produce a lot of waste. However, they’re taking steps to reduce both by building energy efficient storefronts and reducing waste through aggressive recycling programs. (READ FULL ARTICLE)